[Inside an Ethisian Ship]
With great disgust brewing in her stomach, the human Skyler gazed at the appendage—a tail to be precise—while wearing a horrified look.
Forcing herself, she pushed the tail towards her face and tried taking a bite out of it but it didn’t work out. The smell of the tail, and the fresh blood still spewing out of it, was putrid and painful to contain but that wasn’t the worst part.
Just like a lizard’s, the Ethisian’s tail still wiggled and jiggled like a worm with blood squirting from it. The longer she looked and smelled it, the harder it became for her to keep down the contents in her stomach.
"This is disgusting. I can’t eat a sentient being’s body part," she whispered to herself, thinking about the other four who’d consume blood on almost a regular basis, "how do those guys do this and not vomit?"
"Talking to yourself will not do any good, human." Lord Grania barked at the woman as he tried firing up the ship. Like a parent forcing their child to finish their vegetables, the Granian Lord pestered and persuaded the young woman until she ingested it. "Consume what’s enough for you to transform into an Ethisian."
"But Lord Grania..." Skyler complained, but while she did so, the Granian Lord pinched a piece of meat off the tail, held her jaws open, and shoved it inside before letting her go. Thɪs chapter is updated by 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹⟡𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮⟡𝙣𝙚𝙩
"Your unnecessary complaints are starting to get on my nerves, human." he said while they left the planet with their course set for the Ethisian Planet Edenia. "You and I are going to hunt after the High Grade who put Ace in his current condition. You don’t have any form similar to the Ethisians, and your small frame will stand out, so you need a form that’ll blend in with them."
"Fine..." she answered while coughing, "...if you say so. You still forgot about my energy output. Grim said my energy leaks uncontrollably and can be sensed miles away. What’ll we do about that?"
"Transform," he answered, "transform into your Ethisian form. There’s a probability this new form will dilute your Eneraflux output. If I’m correct, it’ll work."
"And if you’re wrong?"
"I hope not," he answered while the ship pierced into the planet’s thick atmosphere, "cause we’re already here. Hurry now and transform. As soon as we touch the ground, I expect to cross paths with soldiers."
[A few minutes later]
[Planet Edenia; The Edge of the Capital]
As he skilfully piloted the ship, the Granian Lord and his human companion were welcomed by the sight of millions of soldiers—Ethisian, YYrejites, Haisojian, and Soxan—with hundreds of thousands of ships moving in and out of the planet from multiple directions.
The skies were peppered with ships of all kinds, ranging from battleships to simple single-manned shuttles as far as the eyes could see. It was a sight to behold, one that showed the Granian Lord just how far his enemies were pushing themselves in order to win.
"I have to give credit to them," he mumbled to himself out loud, "the Ethisians have really prepared themselves for this War."
"Yeah..." Skyler, currently in a disfigured Ethisian form, chimed in with her body still processing the new DNA it received, "...they really don’t want to die. Wouldn’t you do the same if you had an enemy as relentless as you Granians?"
"We already did," Grania responded calmly in a tone so chilling that Skyler’s body shivered, "and we’ll do the same with the Ethisians."
Snapping out of his daze, the Granian flew the ship a few miles away from the Planet’s capital and landed at a safe distance. Once there, he had the ship destroyed and handled the little problem of "disguising himself" from the enemy.
Just like Chris and Lilly, the Granian Lord changed his form to resemble something close enough to an Ethisian. It wasn’t perfect but it was close enough to fool someone who wouldn’t give a second look at him or his human companion.
"Heed my instructions, human," he spoke sternly while wearing a makeshift cloak to hide most of his body, "you are not allowed to speak to anyone because you do not know the Ethisian tongue. You are not allowed to interact with anyone. Do not look at them, smile at them, interact with them, or even breathe next to them.
"Let me do all of that. You will do nothing but observe and take mental notes. When we complete this mission, you will give an account of all you have seen to your fellow humans and my people. Do you understand clearly?"
Skyler nodded and with that, they made their way to the Ethisian Capital.
It was a great distance from where they were, one that was covered with desolate, dry landscapes, wild life, and a few settlements here and there occupied by species seeking asylum, a perfect place for them to start from since no Ethisians will question their presence just yet.
For hours, Grania and Skyler steadily walked through the desolate land, passed the settlements, and finally made it to the Capital’s edge. The place buzzed with activity with millions of soldiers, workers, laborers, and other sorts moving up and down.
Some built, deconstructed, reconstructed, and repaired ships, and battle structures, and fortified the capital while others set up colossal temporary structures where all sorts of battle equipment were designed, built, enhanced and fortified; ranging from ships to battle cannons, to sets of armor and even hand-held traditional weapons.
Skyler thought to herself as she observed the strange things happening. With awe, she admired how the Ethisians prepared for battle for tirelessly. What impressed her the more was how much they had done from just one location, unlike the Granians who spread themselves all over their colonies before organizing themselves.
’And they did this with allies too. Truly incredible.’
While in thought, the young woman walked into Grania’s back, nearly tripping over herself. She gazed forward, wondering why Grania had stopped moving.
’Oh no. We’ve been caught already?’
Surrounding the two of them were Ethisian soldiers, all in the Upper Legendary rank. Each were equipped with armor and what looked like guns fused with cannons pointed at Skyler and Lord Grania.
"Soldiers," one of them stepped forward and questioned, "your fellow scouts left hours ago. "What are you two still doing here?"